


a whole ocean between us

by someonesaveme



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Gen, Karasuno, Little Mermaid AU, M/M, Mermaid kozume kenma, Multi, Nekoma, dude just trying to live his life tsukishima kei, kurokentsuki, prince kuroo tetsurou
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2017-06-04
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:30:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7903207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someonesaveme/pseuds/someonesaveme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The sea witch had taken his voice. Well, that suited Kenma just fine. To be perfectly honest, he didn't think he used it all that much to begin with. Kuroo talked enough for four people anyways. And judging by Tsukishima's put-upon expression whenever Kuroo went off on a tangent, some peace and quiet might be appreciated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a spin-off of the Hans Christian Anderson version of "The Little Mermaid". For those of you who haven't read it, you can. Just google it up. Or if you don't want to, that's fine too. You will still be able to understand the fic.

_Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Nekoma, Prince Kuroo held a birthday party on his ship. On that same night, a merman called Kenma and his friends, Hinata and Lev, decided to make a trip to the surface…_

 

* * *

 

“We’re not gonna be in trouble, right Kenma? Lev’s just making fun of me again, right?”

“No, seriously. We could really get kicked out of the castle for this. Tell him, Kenma!”

Kenma sighed and flicked his tail at the two of them to shut them up. He didn’t even want to be here in the first place, swimming all the way to the surface always thoroughly exhausted him. The only reason he did it so often was to get away from all the noise in the castle. But this time, Kenma ended up bringing all the noise with him. So a prince was having a party. Whoo. How _exciting_. It wasn’t like they couldn’t catch a glimpse of this guy any time they liked, Kenma saw his boat pass by almost every time he swam up to the surface.

Behind him, Lev and Hinata continued to argue. Ignoring them, Kenma continued to swim towards the boat. If he was lucky, the younger mermen would be too scared to follow. Had he known that they’d demand to go see the party Prince Whatever-His-Name-Was was throwing tonight, Kenma would’ve kept his mouth tightly shut about it. He was actually a bit annoyed that he hadn’t predicted this outcome in the first place. What was the point of having weird courtiers sing praises of his “foresight” when he couldn’t even use it to avoid ending up in exhausting situations like this?

“K-Kenma, that’s close enough…” Shouyou whispered from a little behind him, “I’m scared…”

So the two had decided to follow after him after all. Kenma stopped and turned to the two of them. They seemed to be trying to hide behind him. Which was stupid for so many reasons, but mainly because the boat was still a good 200 meters away, they were still _underwater_ , and it was pitch black. No way would any human be able to spot them.

“Shouyou, you were the one who wanted to come in the first place,” Kenma said at a totally normal volume, ignoring Hinata and Lev’s desperate attempts to shush him, “What was the point of all this if you’re so scared of the surface?”

“And don’t hide behind me,” Kenma added as an afterthought.

“But!” Hinata protested, “I wanted to see this prince guy you’re always talking about, Kenma!”

Kenma _really_ regretted not keeping his mouth shut now. Curse Shouyou and the way he just made people want to talk to him.

“I don’t even talk about him that much. I just mentioned I saw him around, which I have.”

“Well, for Kenma that’s the equivalent of gushing, right?” Lev asked, as cheeky as ever.

“Lev, shut up,” Kenma snapped back immediately.

Turning back to Hinata, Kenma said, “We’re not going to get caught and even if we get caught, we won’t be kicked out of the castle. There’s no rule against going to the surface, just a general warning to not be spotted by humans.”

“And will we be?! Spotted by humans, I mean,” Hinata asked. Loudly.

“Yeah, will we?!” Lev echoed Hinata’s concern. _Loudly_.

Well, Kenma supposed he shouldn’t have expected anything else from these two. He preferred the whispering, unnecessary as it was.

Kenma started for the boat again.

“We will be if you two don’t shut up,” he called back as he swam, careful to not let his tailfin make any splashes. They were still far enough from the ship that it shouldn’t matter, but it was probably best not to take any chances.

It really was dark, Kenma mused as he lead the little group slowly towards the boat. It was a cloudy night and whatever moonlight there was was mostly being blocked by a mountain. The only light the three of them really had to work with came from the prince’s boat, and while he could see in the dark, Kenma was used to the bright atmosphere of the castle. Adjusting his eyes to the dark was giving him a bit of a headache. Lev and Shouyou’s arguing was giving him a headache. And the party sounds coming from the boat were giving him a headache as well. Also, he was already exhausted from the long swim up to the surface, and there was still the swim back down to the castle that he’d have to make in a bit.

“I wanna go home already…” Kenma muttered under his breath.

 

* * *

 

Kenma made a slight left a few meters from the boat and brought his friends closer to the mountain, safely under its shadow. This was as close as he was willing to go. While it was true that the castle only issued a general warning about humans but the warning was there for a reason. Historically, humans and merfolk did not mix well.

Kenma surfaced, sticking his head out of the water and indicating for his friends to do the same. Excitedly, Hinata and Lev followed his example. They seemed totally over their earlier nervousness.

“Okay, that’s far enough. The humans shouldn’t be able to see us with the shadow from the mountain covering us,” Kenma said once all of them had surfaced.

“Woah! So smart, Kenma!” Hinata gushed.

“They can still hear us though.”

Having reached their destination, Kenma completely relaxed his tail muscles and let himself just float in place. Only the top half of his head was above water now. He bobbed up and down like a seagull, having basically melted himself into the water. His friends’ excited ooh’s and aah’s washed over him as he drifted off. Another reason he made the tiring trip to the surface so often was for the waves. The rocking motion they made, while they had felt mildly uncomfortable at first, was something Kenma had grown to enjoy. It was comforting and very good for just floating and napping. Truth be told, it wasn’t the safest thing—especially not so close to shore—and usually he’d be more wary with a boat full of humans so close by, but Kenma was confident that if he drifted too far that Shouyou and Lev would drag him back. An unexpected benefit of bringing them along.

“Kenma, Kenma,” Hinata whispered. He shook Kenma out of his drifting and pointed to a man standing at the deck.

“Is that the guy you were talking about?”

Without even looking, Kenma replied, “If he’s smirking and looks like he hasn’t seen a comb ever in his lifetime, then yeah,” and immediately relaxed back into his earlier position.

“I don’t think that’s him then…” Hinata said, disappointed.

Suddenly, Lev sprung halfway out of the water, pointed, and yelled, “I think I see him! Back behind that guy over there! That guy with the mess of black hair. Am I right, Kenma?!”

Lev had created a significant splash when he landed back in the water and he had been anything but quiet. Add that to Hinata’s loud and excited ‘WOAH’ that followed, and Kenma was pretty sure they were about to be discovered. The humans would all have to be deaf to have not heard them. Perhaps the party sounds  would cover up most of the noise, but the humans closest to them—the ones near the edge of the boat, away from the music and the talking--must have heard _something_.

Sure enough, one of the men near the deck started looking around. Kenma managed to grab his two friends and pull them underwater just as the man was turning their direction.

 

* * *

 

“Kuroo!” Yaku called his friend over.

Kuroo waved goodbye to Taketora and made his way over to the railing that Yaku was leaning on.

“Did you hear something over there just now?” he asked. Yaku leaned over the railing a bit. He could have sworn he’d heard a splash and some odd voices.

Kuroo leaned over his ~~shorter~~ friend’s shoulder and squinted out into the darkness. He looked left and right and over the edge of his ship and saw nothing. The water was completely still save for whatever ripples his own boat was causing and he didn’t hear a thing.

“…fish?” he said.

“No, no,” Yaku insisted, “It sounded bigger. And there were definitely voices, though I couldn’t make out what they were saying.”

Kuroo just smirked and turned his back to the water. He casually sat on the railing and watch Yaku continue to search the sea for whatever it was that he had heard. Or _thought_ he’d heard.

“Yaku, I know you’re a _little, itty bitty_ scaredy-cat…” Kuroo began.

“Shut up, Kuroo. I’m serious!” Yaku snapped back.

“…but honestly. This is too much. The Nekoma Port Ghost is just a children’s tale you know.”

Yaku squeaked and whipped his head around to look at his friend.

“The-the Nekoma Port _what_?!”

Kuroo only smirked wider and said, “Oya? Did you not know of it? Well, rumor has it that…”

“WAIT!” Yaku screamed, squinting suspiciously at Kuroo, “Are you just messing with me again? I’ve _never_ heard of a story like that.”

“Really?” Kuroo asked with a painfully fake expression of surprise, “Now that’s a shock! All children know of it. You must’ve been told it when you were little and forgot all about it.”

“Well,” Kuroo corrected himself, “ _Littler_.”

Yaku growled. “You, my prince, are lucky it is your birthday and that we are in front of officials.”

Kuroo chuckled. As if he didn’t know that. No other time would he dare ~~overtly~~ make fun of Yaku’s height.

“Seriously, Yaku,” Kuroo said soothingly, “There’s nothing there but fish in the water and there’s nothing to worry about. I know you get nervous about the ocean but we’re anchored and only a few miles out. It’s calm today and it’s going to be calm tomorrow. And besides, even if it isn’t, you’ve got me here!”

“Man oh man, am I reassured now or what?” Yaku said dryly, “The idiot of the kingdom as our very own captain. Whatever was I worried about?”

Kuroo clutched his heart and made a wounded noise that sounded like a cat being thrown into a bathtub.

“Um hello? Birthday prince? You have to be _nice_ to me today, remember?”

“I am being nice,” Yaku replied, “I haven’t tossed you or your cheap toupee into the ocean yet.”

He turned sharply away from Kuroo after saying that, called out to Kai, and rejoined the party.

“You know for a fact that this hair is all natural and all real! I wake up like this!” Kuroo yelled after Yaku’s retreating back. Yaku, in return, just lifted a hand up and waved, as if waving away an annoying fly.

Kuroo shook his head, slid off the railing and turned his back to Yaku and the rest of the party. He rested his elbows on the railing and leaned, looking out towards the open ocean.

Patting his hair and pouting, he grumbled, “It’s the newest fashion trend, I’ll have you know.”

“Eh? _Seriously_?”

Kuroo’s eyes snapped wide open. Did that voice just come from out in front of him? He was facing the water! A little bit below…

Did he just hear a voice come from the ocean?!

 

* * *

 

Kenma snapped his mouth shut as soon as the words fell from his mouth. As silently and as quickly as possible, he dove back into the water and stayed still, waiting with bated breath. He watched as the prince guy—Kuroo—searched around for a few minutes before finally deciding there was nothing and turning back to his party. He shot one last suspicious look over his shoulder before disappearing from view. Kenma waited a bit longer before finally deeming it safe to move without being seen. He didn’t resurface, but he worked up the courage to slowly swim his way under the boat, where Lev was.

Too close. That was too close. Why had he done that? It wasn’t like he had meant to say anything out loud to the prince.

But honestly? The idea that that kind of _disaster_ of a hairdo could ever be considered ‘in fashion’ was just too much for Kenma to comprehend. Humans were so odd. Before he had known it, he had voiced his disbelief… and was almost caught.

Damn it, this is why he hadn’t wanted to get this close to the boat in the first place. But of course, once they had dove underwater, Lev started to head for the boat immediately, saying something about how they wouldn’t get caught if they stayed down and how he just wanted a closer look and how they were so close to seeing “Kenma’s prince”. Hinata, excited as ever, had zoomed off after Lev before Kenma could even formulate a protest. Which had left Kenma to follow after them.

And now they had just encountered their second close call of the night.

“Kenma?” Lev asked, “What just happened?”

“Nothing. Time to go,” Kenma replied. He grabbed onto Lev’s wrist and started to drag him away.

“Shouyou,” he called to Hinata, who had been swimming excited circles around the boat and poking the barnacles growing on the bottom.

“Shouyou, we’re leaving. Now.”

“Ehhh?” Hinata protested. But he began to swim towards his friends anyways.

However, before he could make it, something zipped by him with such speed and force that it left the tiny merman rolling around in the aftermath.

“What--?”

**KABOOM**

“Lightning?” Kenma muttered, “That’s impossible, there wasn’t and rain or…”

Kenma’s thoughts were cut off abruptly. _The surface of the water had started to churn_. Waves began splashing and the water itself began spinning. Was it a bad storm? A whirlpool? But there hadn’t been any wind or any sign of a storm and the water was totally still just a second ago, this made no sense. What was happening?

Then suddenly, it hit him.

Magic.

Sea Witches. There was one in the area. And everyone knew sea witches had a knack for attacking ships.

It was the only thing that made sense. The water around Kenma wasn’t moving at all. The upset seemed confined to the surface—just in that one area. Someone was after that boat. Him and Lev had dove deep enough and were in the safe zone, but Shouyou…

“Hinata!” Lev yelled, yanking his wrist free of Kenma’s grasp and zooming headlong into the danger zone.

“Lev! No!”

But it was too late. Lev, with his tail as long as the rest of him, was already more than halfway back to the surface. Kenma watched as Lev grabbed on to Hinata right when the water _really_ started to spin. He pulled as hard as he could, but the currents and the waves were too much and he was sucked right into the whirlpool along with Hinata.

Kenma, shaking himself out of his trance, swam up to the surface as fast as he could. He stopped before he too could get sucked in by the currents. The water had gotten significantly faster and his friends were nowhere in sight. Kenma’s sharp eyes darted back and forth, desperately looking for any sign of the other two.

Suddenly, he caught a flash of orange.

_Shouyou._

That was all the warning Kenma got before Lev and Hinata flew past him, their limbs flailing. By some miracle, they had both managed to stay together in the middle of the whirlpool.

And before he could even think about what he was doing, Kenma reached out and grabbed for them. He snagged a tail, though whose, he didn’t know for sure. But Kenma was possibly ~~definitely~~ the weakest out of all of them. He wasn’t even able to put up a fight before being dragged off into the rushing, churning water.

The tail he was holding onto almost immediately slipped through his fingers and Kenma was left alone. He couldn’t see. He had nothing around him. He was also pretty sure this whirlpool was speeding up. He tried to look around as best as he could, tried to see through the endless stream of bubbles and stirred up water, but it was no good. There was no way out. Kenma wasn’t even sure he knew which was ‘out’ was any more. He could no longer distinguish which way he’d gotten sucked in from. In any case, he wasn’t really in a state of mind where he could work up the strength to fight the current anyways. In shock and terrified, Kenma allowed himself to be buffeted around. His only chance would be to ride it out.

But as the minutes (how many minutes? had it been closer to an hour?) ticked by, Kenma felt his panic growing. He was just being dragged along by the currents. He still couldn’t see anything. His sense of direction had been completely skewed. The sense of pain, that was been dulled at first by the initial shock, was quickly kicking in. There was still nothing to hold on to and—

And before he could even finish that thought, something crashed into him. Something, soft? Almost instinctually, Kenma grabbed at whatever it was before it could float away and clung.

Whatever (or whoever because Kenma was now pretty sure it was alive) was in his arms would have to settle for coming along for this ride with him because Kenma was _not_ letting go.

 

* * *

 

Kenma was… awake? He wasn’t sure any more. He wasn’t even moving, but everything hurt. He wasn’t sure how long it’d been since the whirlpool had stopped. Or, had he been flung from it.

Kenma blinked himself, forcing himself to stay awake.

Flung from it. He was pretty sure that he was flung from the whirlpool.

That’s right, when the whirlpool started to speed up even more, Kenma and whoever he had been clinging onto, having been on the edges of it, were flung out and left to drift.

Kenma had no way of knowing how long that had been, but the sun? The sun was up. He could see the sun, bright and clear, so he must be floating. Floating on the surface.

The sun....

So it must’ve been a while since they were thrown out. Or maybe they had been in the whirlpool far longer than he’d thought they’d been.

They. They?

They! Who had Kenma grabbed? Shouyou? Lev?

His arms were still encircled tightly around the chest of whoever he had grabbed. Immediately, Kenma noted the legs. A human? One from the boat then, but which one? Looking down, Kenma saw a bunch of wet, black hair. The hair covered his face, but his red, ornate clothes and tassels gave him away. The prince. Kuroo. Kenma was pretty sure his name had been Kuroo. At least, it was according to the short human that had almost spotted them.

And Kuroo was breathing. It was ragged, but it was definitely there. Kenma thanked his lucky stars that he had been grabbing Kuroo from behind and that somehow they had ended up floating face-up. They had been lucky. Humans didn’t breath underwater. If Kenma had woken up with a dead body in his arms…

Kenma shook the thought. He hadn’t and he really didn’t want to think about the possibility right now. But if Kuroo was fine (well, relatively) then they must not have been in the whirlpool for _too_ long otherwise he would’ve swallowed too much water for a human to handle.

So how long had they been drifting? Where were his friends now? Still trapped in the whirlpool? Or had it ended?

He had to get back to them. That’s right, get back to them. Or to the castle. He had to _move_. And he had to drop the prince off somewhere while he was at it. Kenma didn’t relish the idea, in fact he kind of sneered just thinking of it, but he needed to drag Kuroo to some sort of land. As tired and reluctant as he was, Kenma didn’t think he could, in good conscience, actually just dump Kuroo into the ocean.

With that thought in mind, Kenma tightened his hold on the man and righted them as best as he could. Kuroo was a bit longer and heavier than Kenma so it was a bit awkward. By the time they were more or less vertical, Kenma was panting from both exhaustion and pain. It felt like all of his muscles cramped all at once. All this just to get them upright? This was gonna be impossible!

“….mmmggghhh,” Kuroo groaned. Kenma almost jumped straight out of the water. He didn’t because he wasn’t even sure he could move that much right now, but, in his shock, he did accidently let go of the human.

Immediately, Kuroo slipped underwater.

Immediately, Kenma dove in after him. He did his best to ignore the pain and managed to grab a hold of Kuroo and drag him back up.

As they surfaced, Kenma realized that they were leaving behind a trail of red. It wasn’t from him, he was pretty sure.

Kuroo, then.

Sure enough, a closer look at Kuroo revealed a ripped up, bloody left leg.

“Kuroo? Prince? Kuroo?” Kenma freed one of his hands and lightly slapped at the man’s cheek as he called out to him.

“Hey? Wake up!”

He got a groan.

Kuroo’s eyes flickered open.

Gold. They were a deep honey-gold. And they slipped closed almost as soon as they opened.

Then, nothing.

Great.

Kenma _really_ needed to find somewhere to bring this guy. Dragging around dead weight was _not_ going to be enjoyable and Kenma would’ve liked a minute or two (or five, or ten, or an hour) to allow his muscles some rest, at least until the cramping completely subsided. But that wasn’t going to be an option. Kenma didn’t know a lot about legs, but he knew they weren’t supposed to look like Kuroo’s did right now.

Kenma took a look around and, luck of all lucks, there was some land not far off. He immediately began to swim towards it. It was slow going, but the beach wasn’t far away at all.

Soon enough, they reached the edge of the continental shelf. Which was good because land. Bad because all Kenma had was a tail. Navigating a tail in shallow waters wasn’t going to be easy.

Kenma blew away some hair that had gotten into his face and readjusted Kuroo. It felt odd, his hair was usually out of his face and wet. This was the first time he’d kept his head out of water for so long that his hair had begun to dry.

He didn’t like it.

With that thought in mind, Kenma started further into the shallows, towards land.

“What the--!”

Kenma looked up and saw… a human standing on the beach.

Blond. Tall. Golden eyes that were wide with shock (was golden eyes a thing amongst humans?). Definitely looking _right at Kenma_.

Kenma froze. Eye contact was not his favorite thing. Never had been. Back at the castle, everyone knew this and understood so Kenma was pretty sure he hadn’t had to make eye direct contact with anyone for more than three seconds since childhood. And now he remembered why he hated making it. Even though the blond was quite a distance away, on land, Kenma could feel his skin crawl and his face burn up.

And of course, there was another issue: it was a human.

Kenma was still far enough out and in deep enough water that he was pretty sure the human couldn’t see his tail, but if he came out to help…

Sure enough, the human started towards the water, towards them. He had long legs too so he was travelling at quite an alarming speed. Well, alarming for Kenma because he _could not afford to be seen_. Hide, he had to hide.

But, Kuroo. He couldn’t just leave the guy to drown.

In a panic, Kenma did what he usually did when meeting anyone new: he froze up. Eyes wide, he watched the human run towards the water…

…and suddenly come to a stop?

The blond man skidded to a stop with an expression that told Kenma that he was as surprised about it as anyone. He looked down and scowled at the… at the water? There was nothing there but water.

Kenma watched what looked to be an internal debate. He watched as the man picked up a foot, as if he was about to go forwards, then put it back down to where it was. He watched him do this three times.

Apparently giving up after the third try, the man called out to Kenma.

Kenma had never been so glad that his kingdom was one of the ones who decided to adopt human languages instead of trying to invent their own. Sure, having three different language classes was a huge pain, but this situation made it all worth it. And anyways, it’s not like he always went to all of those classes.

Still, words sounded different on land than they did underwater and the human, who was still stubbornly not coming any closer, was a bit far away. And quiet, even though he looked like he was yelling. Kenma could make out what he was saying, but just barely.

He was pretty sure the human was telling him that if he could make it to land then he’d be able to get them help. But the way the human was holding himself, he seemed to be waiting for a response. So, he’d asked Kenma if he could make it to land maybe?

Kenma readjusted Kuroo and managed to free up one of his hands. He pointed to his right, at one of those rocky, man-made peninsulas, indicating (he hoped) that he intended to swim towards that.

It must have done the trick because the blond yelled something over his shoulder then started to move towards the rocks.

“Good, he’s intelligent,” Kenma said to himself, “The opposite of Shouyou.”

 _Shouyou, Lev_ …

He had to hurry. He still needed to go back to the castle and send out a search party.

Kenma swam as fast as he could and beat the human to the rocks. With what was left of his arm strength, he pushed Kuroo onto a rock, laid him out, and bolted back to the castle…

Or at least, that’s what he wanted to do. But in reality, he needed a breather. And perhaps he wanted to make sure that Kuroo would _actually get_ the help he needed. Kenma knew of mermaids who’d just leave others to rot, who was to say humans wouldn’t? He made it to a large rock, which he swam behind and half-dragged himself onto. The rock was shaped in a way that hid him from sight, but he could peak around and see the two humans.

The blond had just made it to where Kuroo was and immediately knelt down to check his vitals. He also looked around for Kenma, confused when he found nothing. Something must have happened with Kuroo though because the blond quickly turned all his attention towards the injured prince. He looked to be trying to talk to him. Maybe Kuroo was awake?

Unable to see Kuroo’s state from where he was sitting, Kenma pulled himself further up onto the rock and completely out of the water.

Then, suddenly, the blond human whipped his head around and, for the second time today, he and the now-visible Kenma made eye contact.

Kenma froze once again. The human broke eye contact first, eyes travelling…

…down Kenma’s body…

Landing right on his tail.

Kenma dove for the water. He dove right over the side of the rock and _swam_. He didn’t even try to go slow or hide his lower body. What did it matter now if the human saw?

As he swam he heard, “Wait! What’s happening?! Who is this?!”

But he didn’t stop.

 

* * *

 

_tbc._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn, I can't believe Kenma almost outed his entire people to the world just to insult Kuroo's hair. 
> 
> Well, all the players are now on the field, let's see what happens from here. Let me know what you guys think btw.
> 
> I'd like to thank mikotoismyking and asahii-a on tumblr for being lovely and reading through my drafts. You guys are great :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're picking up first with Kenma.
> 
> In case anyone misses it or has a hard time picking up on these things, the part that's completely in italics are indeed flashbacks/stuff that happened in the past.

_“Kenma, Kenma!” a voice called to Kenma, disturbing him from his rooftop nap._

_It was Haiba Lev. The little seven-year old merman had somehow gotten it into his mind recently that Kenma was his friend. Kenma disagreed. The adults said Lev was the way he was because he was young. They said that he was just a child and that he would eventually grow out of his excessive energy, his tendency to break absolutely everything, and his… Lev-ness. But Kenma didn’t buy it. Kenma might be young and might not know as much as the adults did, but one look at Lev and he just_ knew _. He knew that Lev would be unnecessarily loud and absolutely exhausting until the day he died. Which might be soon, given how clumsy he was._

_Kenma hunched down and stayed quiet. He watched Lev swim in circles looking for him until he literally swam face-first into a wall. It’s like Lev’s body grew longer, his muscles stronger, and somewhere along the line his body forgot to inform his brain about what it was doing. Or maybe Lev sacrificed brain development for height. Kenma would believe that. Either way, Lev moved like his own body confused him (though, to be fair, Kenma got the feeling that a lot confused Lev). He was always crashing into things. Always getting into it. Always dipping his hands into some kind of disaster. You’d think then he’d logically calm down a bit and learn, but he stayed as enthusiastic and uncontrollably energetic as ever._

_Kenma really didn’t want to play with Lev today. But sitting on the roof was starting to get uncomfortable and he wanted to go back to his room and nap._

_But to do that, he had to get by Lev…_

_Well, whatever. Kenma decided to see what Lev wanted and then trick him into going somewhere else while he slipped back into his room._

_“Lev,” Kenma called, swimming down from his perch, “What do you want?”_

_Lev’s face lit up at the sight of Kenma. He stopped rubbing the fast-forming bruise on his forehead and quickly swam over to Kenma._

_“Kenma, guess what?!”_

_Kenma sighed. He didn’t understand why Lev felt he had to scream everything, they were right next to each other._

_“That’s what I’m asking you, Lev. What?”_

_“Well, I was swimming around and accidently swam somewhere we’re not allowed—“_

Of course _he had._

_“—and it was the library, Kenma! The big one that the adults say we’re not allowed into because it has dangerous books. I grabbed one and opened it up—“_

_Naturally._

_“—but I couldn’t read it…. But! Then I remembered that you knew how to read real well! And I thought, well…”_

_Kenma stuck out his hand for the book. He hadn’t wanted to hang out with Lev, but he was curious now. Some of the books he’d stolen from his parents were actually pretty entertaining. If this one was from the big, forbidden castle library then it could be interesting._

 

* * *

 

Kenma had never swam so fast in his life. He was aware of the pain wracking his entire body but his survival instinct was on overdrive. He pushed until he couldn’t push anymore. But the panic eventually subsided and finally, after what must have been at least two hours of frantic swimming, Kenma felt it was safe to stop. The human he was running from was no longer visible. The _island_ he’d left the prince on was no longer visible. Nothing but open water was visible. Kenma was well and truly in the middle of nowhere. He was safe.

So then the question remained: What now? Would he go search for Lev and Shouyou? Swim back to where he’d last seen them and start searching from there? Or should he go back to the castle?

But his tail was cramping up and he had no idea how far he was now from the cove they were at. Kenma wasn’t even too familiar with this part of the ocean. There was a reef nearby but he’d never seen it before so it was hardly a landmark. Just getting back to the castle was going to take some doing. Kenma focused in on his homing instincts*, tried to catch a scent or a feeling, and he was pretty sure he could get around to the castle but…

But it’d be safer to wait until the stars were up. That way he’d be able to hone in on where he was and reorient himself with certainty. And it looked like there was no way he’d be able to feel his way back to the cove where he’d last seen his friends. He hadn’t spent anywhere near enough time there to be able to find it from the middle of nowhere. He didn’t go to the surface _that_ often. It was probably both simpler and quicker to just swim to the castle and let them know what had happened.

The castle it was then. He’d start as soon as night fell. And when he reached the castle, he’d immediately send out a search party. That is, if Lev and Shouoyou hadn’t already made it back. Who knew? Maybe they were better off than him right now.

Something in Kenma told him that there was no way that was true.

Kenma decided to rest up before nightfall. He swam to the reef, hid himself between some corals, and laid down. He was asleep as soon as his eyes shut.

 

* * *

 

Navigating using the stars, Kenma was able to quickly find his way. Now all there was, was to dive down. Floating quietly, Kenma mentally calculated how far he’d have to swim and for how long until he reached the castle, which was all the way on the ocean floor. The trip from the reef to where he was right now hadn’t been short, but it hadn’t been as long as Kenma had thought it’d be either. The nap he took had left him feeling a bit better too. Kenma was pretty sure he could make it back to the castle in just under four hours, if he pushed. And if there was ever a time to push, it was now. He was used to swimming at an easy pace, but there was absolutely no time for that.

Kenma took a few more seconds to ready himself and then dove into the water and began swimming down. And down and down and down. He didn’t stop to adjust to the lack of light, he didn’t stop when his tail muscles started to cramp up again. He almost collided into a whale, only swimming around it at the last second, and didn’t even stop for that. Kenma’s eyes, once they did adjust to the darkness, couldn’t keep up with his pace and his surroundings were all a blur. Though, that may have been in part due to his urgency and also the pain in his muscles. He had descended to far too fast. It wasn’t dangerous for a grown mermaid like himself, but it wasn’t pleasant either. And the lack of breaks were really getting to him as well.

Kenma wasn’t sure how long he kept swimming. He wasn’t sure if it had been four hours yet or not, but eventually the giant castle came into view. With what was left of his energy, Kenma push forward and swam right into the courtyard. The guards posted there started.

“Sir Kenma?!”

“Quick, go tell the king I need to talk to him…” Kenma said, trying to keep conscious no matter what.

But it was no good. He was tired, he was in pain, he had just swam hours without stopping, he hadn’t eaten a single thing this whole day, and, now that he’d stopped moving, he was suddenly aware of how fast his heart was beating. It felt like all the blood was pumping right to his face with the way it heated up. Kenma’s head started to loll. He felt himself sway and his vision started to blur.

The guard rushed forward to help him, but he wasn’t fast enough. Just before the guard reached him, Kenma’s vision blacked out completely and he dropped like a rock.

 

* * *

 

Kenma’s eyes fluttered open. Was someone crying? Whoever it was, they were a loud crier.

Kenma forced his eyes open to see who it was. Momentarily blinded by the light, Kenma threw an arm over his eyes. Whoever it was that had been crying, cried out in shock and yelled for the doctor.

“He’s awake! He’s awake! Doctor Suga!”

Kenma would have recognized that high pitched and eternally slightly excited voice anywhere. It was Shouyou. And he’d called for Doctor Sugawara. So… this was the castle infirmary. It made sense. The guard must have brought him here after he had passed out.

He had passed out after he had…

Kenma jolted. He had passed out after rushing back to the castle. He had rushed back after the events on the surface. Shit, how long had he been asleep? And Shouyou was here? He was here so that meant that he had made it back!

“Shouyou?”

“Kenma!” Hinata yelled in response, “I’m here. It’s okay, you’re okay. Doctor Suga said that…”

“…that you just fainted out of exhaustion and slight malnourishment. We got some food into you when you woke up last, but it’d be good if you could sit up and eat more,” the soft voice of Doctor Sugawara Koushi said.

“Do you think you can do that?” the doctor asked Kenma.

Kenma groaned, not wanting to move. But now that the doctor had mentioned it, he was _starving_. Kenma blinked a few more times to adjust to the brightness and then nodded. He saw Sugawara smile out of the corner of his eye.

Kenma felt Sugawara’s hand slip behind his head to support him. With the doctor’s help, he slowly sat up. He was glad to find he was only slightly sore. The cramps seemed to be gone. Once he was upright, Sugawara removed his hand and swam out of the room, probably to go get some food.

“Shouyou,” Kenma said, turning to his friend, “So you’re okay. How long have I been out?”

“Only for a day,” Hinata replied, tears still in his eyes, “You woke up before but you weren’t really awake. You were all like, fwump and shhhh. Doctor Suga said there wasn’t anything serious, but I was still worried!”

So he had woken up before. The doctor had said he’d even eaten something. He didn’t remember any of it.

“How did you and Lev get back so fast?” Kenma looked around for Lev instinctually as he asked. “Were you two thrown from the whirlpool too?”

The question, for some reason, made Hinata sob out loud. Kenma stopped searching and watched, confused, as Hinata threw himself face first onto the bed and buried his face into his arms. His small frame was wracked with violent sobs.

“Th-they took him, Kenma…” Hinata told his friend, his words muffled by the blanket and broken up by his sobbing.

“Took…him…?” Kenma replied, unsure of what Hinata had meant.

“Lev! They took him! The humans on the ship! I woke up and Lev was already trapped in one of their nets. I don’t remember how it happened, I was asleep. But when I woke up, they were already reeling him in! I tried to fight them for him, but-but they almost dragged me out of the water too when I grabbed Lev. And then they tried to grab me t-too! I only got away because a whale heard me yelling and swam by…”

Kenma couldn’t speak. He couldn’t hear. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t feel. He might have collapsed back onto the bed for all he knew. He was totally numb.

Lev… had been taken? Taken by humans?

Hinata picked his face up off the bed to talk to Kenma. He was still steadily crying.

“What are they gonna do to him, Kenma?”

Kenma didn’t know how to answer.

“Why would they do that to him? Lev wasn’t even awake yet! He wasn’t gonna do anything!”

Kenma still had no answer for him.

“How are we gonna get him back?”

He had nothing.

“Hey, Kenma?! We’re gonna get him back, r-right?”

Kenma couldn’t say a word.

 

* * *

 

It had been a full week since the king had made an official declaration about what had happened at the surface. About what had happened to Lev. Everyone in the castle was in a panic--as well they should be. However, even in his tired and still slightly shocked state, Kenma was a calm pragmatic--he took after his mother in that sense. This was a problem and it had a solution. Kenma was given plenty of time in the infirmary to shake the majority of his shock and let the problem fully sink in. Now, he was scouring his brain for a solution.

Lev was gone. Missing. Taken.

How were they going to get him back?

How…?

 

* * *

 

_Lev flashed Kenma a gap toothed, childish grin and slammed the book into Kenma’s hand._

_That had hurt and Kenma let the other boy know with a pained grunt and a glare. Lev at least had the decency to look apologetic. Kenma started reading the title out loud._

_“It says…_

_… Sea Witches.”_

 

* * *

 

 

_tbc._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *-The 'homing instinct' that Kenma uses is a legit thing animals have. I figure it'd make sense for mermaids to have it since they live in the bottom of the freaking ocean. I gave them celestial, landmark, scent, and magnetic homing instincts. 
> 
> This chapter and the next one are a bit shorter. That's kind of just the way it turned out. Well, on the plus side, you guys can expect the next chapter to come up soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, the parts in all italics are flashbacks for anyone who didn't pick up on it.

_Kenma flipped the book open to the first page and began to read._

_“Sea witches are extremely dangerous and no sane person should approach them if they value their lives. Or their souls. A sea witch, driven insane, will take both without any remorse,”_

_Kenma felt Lev shiver next to him. He wondered if they should stop. The adults kept this stuff away from them for a reason, after all. But it sounded so interesting…_

_In the end, the decision was made for him. Lev straightened up and said, “Keep going, Kenma. What’s it say next?”_

_“Luckily, it seems most sea witches do not have enough power to take souls without some kind of permission. It is the souls they truly covet, as a lot of the magic they use is fueled by souls. For more information on the magic sea witches use, check chapter five ‘Sea Witch Spells’.”_

_“Why would anyone give them_ permission _to take their souls?” Kenma wondered out loud. Lev shrugged in response then turned his attention back to the book._

_“However, just because a sea witch is not powerful enough to simply take souls, does not mean they should be underestimated. Often times they will strike deals with desperate merfolk, taking advantage of their despair. They will promise gold, fame, fortune, or any number of things, but at a price. There are conditions to any spell a sea witch casts and the conditions are often convoluted and impossible to meet. The price for not meeting those conditions is always the desperate merman/mermaid’s living soul.”_

_“The authors of this book would like to stress the importance of **never** approaching a sea witch and to **never** make any deals with one. They would like their readers to remember that whatever their situation is, it can’t possibly be worth the price of their soul.”_

 

* * *

 

Kenma knew what he was asking was unorthodox. Unheard of. Only the really desperate or the really dumb ever made deals with _sea witches_. The price to pay for the spell was usually heavy and the conditions they set were often ridiculous. And if you didn’t meet the conditions? Your soul belonged to the sea witch. It wasn’t an ideal solution by any means.

But this was a _desperate_ situation.

The question was, would the council and the king see it that way?

“Who would even go?!” one of the advisors roared, “Who would you ask to risk their soul and make a deal with a sea witch?!”

The question, directed at Kenma, had silenced the entire room.

Kenma had used his position as the king’s main strategist to call a general meeting where he had suggested going to see a sea witch about finding Lev. The chaos that had followed had been immediate. Some advisors had been for it, some against. The arguing had been going on for hours and arguments had echoed down the entire hall. But now, the meeting hall was completely quiet. Everyone was waiting for an answer. For or against, none of that mattered now. If they couldn’t even find anyone to go then the plan was a bust. 

“First of all,” Kenma said, “I didn’t say anything about a deal. I just said that maybe we could see if a sea witch could be of service.”

But even though he’d said that, Kenma knew that the meeting with the sea witch would probably end in a deal being struck. Or at the very least, one would have to be proposed and brought back. One way or another, there’d be a deal. Anyone who wanted a sea witch’s help had to resign themselves to striking a deal. In truth, Kenma had only said what he did just now in the hopes of calming the meeting down and buying himself some time to think.

He had been planning on petitioning the knights, but what if they were unwilling? This was a very unorthodox request and certainly didn’t fall within a knight’s duties. If he was refused there, what then? The public? That had the potential for disaster.

Actually, Kenma had been thinking of offering…

Well, for now, he’d tell the council he wanted to petition the knights. That’d at least get them off his back and move the meeting forward.

“I was thinking of asking our knights if they could…”

“I’ll go.”

Kenma whipped his head over to his left. Shouyou floated, like he always had, at his left. As one of his personal aides, Shouyou and Lev were allowed to attend meetings with Kenma. Sometimes they even attended in his stead, though not often because they tended to leave a mess that was always up to Kenma to clean up.

Usually, Shouyou attended the meetings with a sunny smile or a vacant, confused expression. There was no trace of that now. This particular look in Shouyou’s eyes never failed to send shivers up Kenma’s spine. And, judging by the expressions on the other advisors’ faces, he wasn’t the only one who had noticed something off with their resident ball of energy.

“I’ll go,” Hinata said again, without any prompting, “I’ll go see the sea witch. I’ll go, I’m not a coward!”

Hinata was panting by the end of his sentence. It hadn’t been a long speech, but he had managed to get himself more than worked up while giving it.

“Shouyou,” Kenma said, standing from his seat to meet his friend’s eyes.

Hinata whipped his head over and glared at Kenma, daring him to argue. But Kenma had never been scared of Hinata. Not even when he got like this, which he did on occasion. So he plowed on, completely ignoring his glaring friend.

“Shouyou, that’s wrong. The council has to carefully pick who goes and we can’t make anyone go who doesn’t want to. This is their soul we’re talking about. It’s not cowardly to try and preserve it.”

“But Lev is--!”

“We all know what’s happened, Hinata Shouyou,” one of the older and calmer advisors said from her seat, “But a sea witch is no joke, young man. We don’t know much at all about them and most of what we do know isn’t good. A really insane and powerful one might just rip your soul out with or without a deal. You’ve said your part and I commend your courage, but it’s time for you to go, I think. We need to continue the meeting.”

At the old advisor’s words, two of the knights posted around the room swam forward and flanked Hinata.

“Kenma…”

Kenma silenced Hinata with a hand to his mouth. He then nodded at the guards.

“Take him to my room,” Kenma said, “I’m gonna need to talk to him after this.”

The knights nodded back. They were kind enough to wait for Hinata to gather himself before gently nudging him out the door.

“We might consider it,” Kenma heard one of the advisors whisper to another as the guards were still leading Shouyou away, “I mean, we can’t know if any of the knights will be willing to do it. If he’s serious about going…”

“No!” Kenma wanted to shout, “No, you can’t be serious! You can’t send Shouyou! He’s way too gullible and naïve. He’d sell his soul just because the witch asked.”

Kenma wanted to say these things, but he didn’t. In the back of his mind, he knew they couldn’t afford to exclude anyone. There was no reason for any of the knights to agree to go nor for the council to even agree to send one. If they had a willing participant, then they should take it. But… Shouyou?

No, Kenma couldn’t let that happen. Not only would he lose Lev that way, he’d lose Shouyou too. He supposed there was something to be said about believing in your friends, but he didn’t care. This was an operation that needed someone sharp and flexible and knew how to pick their words carefully. Someone who was sharp enough to tell when they were being played. They couldn’t just send some meathead or someone with false ideas of courage or glory. They were trying to save a life and prevent a disaster, not lose more lives and create more trouble. Whoever it was would have to be able to stay calm and would have to be able to plan ahead.

So in other words, they could absolutely _not_ consider sending Hinata Shouyou.

No. If it came down to it then…

The doors were thrown open before Kenma could finish that thought. It was one of the knights that had just taken Hinata out of the room. His helmet had been thrown off and he looked like he’d just returned from a fight of some sort.

How could he have been in a fight though? He’d left the room no more than ten seconds ago.

With his helmet now off, Kenma recognized who the knight was. Kageyama Tobio. One of Shouyou’s friends. Well, “friends”. They fought verbally at least twice every day and physically at least once every two days. In truth, the knight was always too intense for Kenma to feel comfortable around. Whenever he and Hinata hung out, Kenma had been sure to avoid them. But Hinata (probably) liked him well enough and Lev had vouched for him too, so Kenma supposed he liked the guy just by association.

“I’LL GO!” Kageyama all but roared, “I’LL GO FIND WHERE THE SEA WITCH IS HIDING!”

Stunned, Kenma could only say, “No, Kageyama… we know where the sea witch is…”

Suddenly, a blob of orange hair flew at Kageyama’s head and almost bowled him over.

“Stupid Kageyama!” Shouyou yelled, pulling at the other’s hair, “I said _I’d_ go!”

“AND I JUST SAID I WOULD, MORON!”

The whole council watched them wrestle and shout obscenities at each other, stunned silent at the display. Kenma, however, was more or less used to this sort of thing from Shouyou. He loved his friends, but they got so worked up over everything. And the _fighting_ ….Though, he was a bit shocked that they’d do this during a council meeting. But he wasn’t entirely too shocked at the same time. Truth be told, Kenma was more annoyed than anything else. The loud-as-hell fight, the stifling silence of the council, the uncertainty flying through his head—it was all giving him a hell of a headache.

“Alright!” Kenma yelled, “Enough!”

Hinata and Kageyama hadn’t heard him over the sounds of their own screeching, but the guards closest to Kenma had. Kenma’s voice seemingly snapped them out of their stupor and they moved to forcefully separate the two younger mermen. By the time they managed it, both Kageyama and Hinata were panting and bruises had started to form on both of their faces. Hinata’s shirt was ripped a bit at the collar and he was holding a handful of Kageyama’s hair in one of his fists. They were still glaring at each other and paying no mind to where they were.

Well, never mind it. Kenma was sure he’d get their attention soon enough with what he was about to say.

“Obviously we can’t send _them_ ,” Kenma stated calmly, indicating at the two mermen by waving a hand in their direction.

“What?”

“Kenma?”

“They’d get themselves killed before even reaching the sea witch,” Kenma continued, ignoring the protests completely. It was true and everyone knew it. Sending either Kageyama or Hinata to see a tricky, powerful sea witch would be the equivalent of sending them to their deaths. And none of that did Lev one lick of good. In the end, there was really only one way Kenma could be sure this would be done right.

“Then who shall go?” the old advisor who had sent Shouyou out the first time asked. Something in her tone told Kenma she probably already had some idea what he was going to say.

“I am not against asking a knight—well, _some other_ knight--but I’ll admit I’m not hopeful that any of them will be willing. Or capable enough to be trusted.”

The old advisor’s last few words caused some of the knights in the room to tense up, but she either didn’t notice or she didn’t particularly care.

“None of that’ll be an issue,” Kenma answered.

“After all, I’ll be the one to go. I’m probably the best suited.”

“Kenma?!” Hinata cried. The council echoed the sentiment, some of the members even standing up out of their seats in preparation to protest or to express their shock at his words. Kenma didn’t falter. He looked steadily down at his hands and repeated himself.

“I’m going to go see the sea witch.”

 

* * *

 

_Kenma flipped a page in the book. The warning had seemed a bit unnecessary, in his opinion. Even he and Lev, who weren’t even old enough to be allowed to read about sea witches, knew better than to approach one. Any merfolk with more than two brain cells to rub together knew that sea witches were horrifying monsters. Why would anyone seek one out?_

_With the page flipped over, Kenma started to read again._

_“However, despite their insanity and atrocious actions, it is important to remember that sea witches are also terribly tragic creatures…”_

 

* * *

 

 

_tbc._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so the next few chapters will be about Kuroo and Tsukki. We'll get to see what they've been up to. That might be a bit longer so be patient with me. Hope you enjoy these parts though. 
> 
> Kageyama made his appearance though so yay! He might feature later on, we'll have to see.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I'm calling tsukishima by his first name both because I don't want him mixed up with akiteru and also because I do a lot of the character's inner thoughts and who the hell thinks of themselves in their last name? I might switch back, but I'm gonna try this. It doesn't change the story. Similarly thought, kuroo gets called 'prince' a lot and daichi gets called 'king' because that's how tsukishima thinks of them in his head.
> 
> sorry for the long wait. your comments all really helped this keep going, I was thinking I'd abandon it but some people seemed to really like it so. here it is.

* * *

 

 

_“Mama?” Kei approached his crying mother, “Mama, what happened? What did the soldiers have to say to you?”_

_“Oh, Kei…”_

 

* * *

“This gives ‘bringing someone home’ a whole new meaning, huh Tsukki?” Yamaguchi quipped as soon as the doctor took his leave.

Kei rolled his eyes and didn’t bother to answer. Yamaguchi was already looking way too proud at his terrible joke, no need to throw any fuel to the fire. He waved his servant away instead.

“Don’t you have cleaning to do or something?”

“I _always_ have cleaning to do,” Yamaguchi sniped back, “Why’d you get a house so big?”

“I like to see you actually working for your stay,” Tsukishima replied dryly.

“You’re so ugly. You're not even a little attractive, you know that?” Yamaguchi shot back, scowling.

“What are you saying? I’m plenty attractive. Look at this cute boy I just brought home.”

Yamaguchi let out an overdramatic groan of disgust (which Kei ignored) and pout-stomped out of the room (which Kei also ignored) leaving Kei and the sleeping princess alone. Kei tucked the corners of the blanket tighter around the unconscious man and dimmed the lamp at the bedside table as low as he could get it.

“It’s no royal chamber, your majesty,” Kei muttered under his breath, “But it’ll have to do until you’re safe to be moved.”

His hair was down and looked actually normal, which had thrown Kei off at first, but it didn’t take long for him to identify the prince of Nekoma. Kei lived in Karasuno, an island nation of twelve closely located islands that depended heavily on its title as a major trade center. Nekoma was the closest nation to Karasuno in both distance and relations-wise. Kei was the Ambassador of Trade for his kingdom. He might not be personally acquainted with the prince currently laying in his guest room, but he’d seen him enough times during visits that it was easy enough to identify him once he’d pulled the hair and seaweed out of the man’s face.

Normally such a royal patient would immediately be moved to the castle as quickly as possible, but that looked to be impossible for the time being. The young prince had barely made the trip back to Kei’s seaside manor. He was stable now, but the doctor had been very firm that he stay on bedrest and Kei was no doctor but he couldn’t help but agree.

Kei took a look at the doctor’s report he’d been left with. Cuts and bruises that had been simple enough to clean and treat littered the prince’s body. The only one that had needed stitches was a particularly deep one on his right arm. Mild concussion was likely, but it was nothing too terrible. There was swelling in one of his fingers, probably just a hairline fracture. The most worrying injury though had been the leg. A transverse, open fracture of the tibia, the report called it. It had been set and the stitches were cleanly applied, but it would take a while to heal.

All-in-all, the prince would be okay. He’d been lucky. Assuming he’d been sailing near Nekoma and had drifted all the way to Karasuno, Kei was surprised he was even alive. He’d been _very_ lucky. Better to not push that luck and load his severely injured highness onto a carriage for a long, bumpy ride to the castle. Kei imagined King Daichi would want to see his long-time friend, but he also imagined that his majesty would like to see his friend alive even more.

Speaking of his majesty, Kei had sent a quick letter with a raven to the castle when the doctors had been working on the prince. He should probably send another one now updating the king on the situation.

“Well,” Kei muttered, picking up the lamp and standing, “Don’t go anywhere.”

He scowled at his own joke. Yamaguchi was rubbing off on him. Kei supposed fifteen years of friendship would do that.

Kei left the room, lamp in hand, and went down the hall to his study. He had a letter to write.

 

* * *

 

“Tsukki,” Yamaguchi whispered, shaking his sleeping friend, “Tsukki, there’s someone at the door. I saw them coming up the walkway.”

Kei’s eyes shot open and he sat up. He’d always been a light sleeper and that news would startle anyone out of bed. Someone at the door? It was the dead of the night.

But sure enough, all of the sudden the distinct sound of someone banging away at the door rang throughout the house.

Kei whistled once and his guard dogs, Hachiko and Firefly, were immediately up. Thank god his mother had been so paranoid about her skinny pacifist of a son moving out of the house. He’d refused to hear anything about a guard, having someone follow him around like that would drive him out of his mind, but in the face of his mother’s worry he’d relented and bought two dogs. Animals were more tolerable than people. Probably more dependable in a fight too, going off of some of the newer knight he’d seen loitering around the castle.

“Go back to your room and lock the door,” Kei whispered to Yamaguchi, “I’m going to see who it is.”

Yamaguchi looked like he was going to protest, but then took a look at the dogs and backed down. The dogs were friendly enough in that they’d never attack anyone out of turn, but they proved to be as stubborn as their master in many ways. The two obeyed no one but Kei so it had to be Kei who went.

Kei motioned for his dogs to follow and made his way down the stairs. The knocking hadn’t let up since it started and it only made Kei warier. When he stood before the front door, Hachiko started to growl and Firefly flattened her ears against her head.

“Who’s there?” Kei asked, trying to sound as authoritative as he could, “Identify yourself.”

Outside he heard the intruder snicker.

“Do you hear this? He sounds like he’s gonna wet himself.”

Kei would recognize that obnoxious laugh anywhere. And if that was here then the person he was talking to could only be his (tiny) partner in crime. With a quiet groan Kei swung the door open to greet his least favorite pair in the world.

As soon as the door was open Sir Tanaka and Sir Nishinoya, noble knights of the royal court and personal guards of the king himself, jumped him. Literally jumped him. Jumped right on top of him and clung on like leeches.

“Sir Tanaka, Sir Nishinoya, to what do I—oomph—owe this visit? Not that I’m not _thrilled_ to have you, but as you can see it’s really _quite late_.”

“Keeeeeeei!” Tanaka yelled because he didn’t know any other volume, “How dare you leave your loving brother freezing his ass off in the cold, huh?!”

“Yeah, how dare you, Tsukishima?!” Nishinoya echoed.

“Brother- _in-law_. And I’m not even sure that applies anymore,” Kei firmly corrected, trying to push the masses of muscle off of his before he collapsed under their collective weight.

“Ah sure it does,” Tanaka waved off Kei’s comment, “Once you’re family, you’re family for life.”

“Lucky me,” Kei dryly replied.

Still, when the two finally released him, he stepped aside to let them in. His dogs happily trotted up to their now freed master. Kei rolled his eyes and patted them both on the head.

“What’d I even get you two for if you’re not going to be useful?” he asked.

The dogs both barked happily, not caring one bit that their owner had just been attacked by two hellions while they’d watched from the sidelines.

“I feed and house you and you betray me like this.”

The dogs wagged their tails.

 

* * *

 

“So, can I assume you’re here about the prince?” Kei asked as Yamaguchi set tea in front of him and his ~~annoyances~~ guests.

“Hole in one,” Nishinoya replied, “So how is he?”

“Injured,” Tsukishima said, throwing the doctor’s report at the pair sitting across from him.

“There you go, I assume you can both read? Though, I put the general gist of it in the letter.”

The two knights (and Yamaguchi, who was leaning over Tanaka’s shoulder) read through the report before looking back up at Kei.

“The king wants to see him,” Tanaka said.

“We can’t move him at this point without opening his wounds. Can his majesty not wait a little?” Kei asked.

He was a bit surprised that the king would send knights to fetch the injured prince after Kei had explicitly told him in his letter that the prince was in no state to move. King Daichi was a young king but he wasn’t reckless like many had feared he’d be; a fair and level-headed man who placed a lot of trust in his closest advisors, Kei included. This behavior was abnormal. Kei wondered if it was because it was a close friend in question. He knew his king and Nekoma’s prince had been _close_. In fact, he was one of the select few who knew that years ago—when the king was still the crown prince—his majesty and the prince of Nekoma had even considered engagement before their relationship had fallen through. Sure it was only a passing thought, but they’d considered it all the same.

“No, no, the king understands that. He wants to _come here_ to see him,” Tanaka replied.

That got Kei’s attention. The king? Here?

“O-Of course, if you’re not comfortable with it, we could turn the procession around. The king sent us ahead to get your answer. He ‘values your support and would hate to intrude’ and all.”

“Turn it around?” Kei asked.

“You mean they’re already on their way?” Yamaguchi finished the thought.

“Already at the next town over,” Nishinoya chirped happily and then asked, “Hey, can I play with your dogs?”

Kei gave him the go ahead and Nishinoya cheered and ran off to annoy the dogs who were curled up in the kitchen.

“Kei,” Tanaka said, suddenly serious and reaching for his brother-in-law’s hand, “You can say no. I know you don’t like having people at this house.”

Kei waved off his concerns.

“I locked all that stuff up in a room years ago. There’s nothing wrong with the king coming here, I just wasn’t expecting it. Tell the king that it’s fine. I’ll set up a room for him.”

It was all true too. Kei had locked all his search materials and empty results into a spare room with Akiteru’s old things two and a half—almost three—years ago. Besides, the king knew all about his desperate search. He was one of the ones that had convinced Kei to quit.

And if Kei still sometimes went into that room when Yamaguchi was out to… take a look. Well, no one had to know. It’s not like he really expected to find any new intel, he just wanted to look at it sometimes, pathetic as it sounded.

Tanaka and Yamaguchi shared a look that Kei knew all too well. It irked him that they still felt the need to fuss over him like that. And it irked him even more that he knew it wasn’t even an unfounded worry and that there was nothing he could justifiably say to get them to stop bothering about it after what he’d put them ~~and himself~~ through.

Nishinoya’s shriek of pain broke through the awkward silence. Tanaka, fighter that he was, was on his feet immediately and rushing in to help his fellow knight. Yamaguchi, worrywart that he was, followed soon after.

Kei, scholar that he was, deduced what had happened and stayed right in his seat.

“Which one bit you?” Kei yelled.

“The one with the white spot on its ass!” Nishinoya replied.

“Good _girl_ , Firefly,” Kei chuckled.

“Rrrroof!”

 

* * *

 

 

 

The next morning, Sawamura Daichi, king of the twelve islands of Karasuno, paid Kei’s seaside home a visit for the first time.

“You didn’t have to set up a room, Tsukishima. I’ll be staying at an inn. I don’t intend to trouble you that much.”

“Not at all, your majesty,” Tsukishima said, still kneeling in front of the king, “It’s no trouble having you here. It was _an_ _honor_ to ready a room for you. Welcome.”

King Daichi smiled wryly and lifted Kei up gently.

“Tsukishima we’ve all been friends longer than I’ve been king,” he said, “Don’t be so distant.”

“As your majesty says,” Kei said, sinking into a low bow to hide his smirk.

“Okay, now I _know_ you’re just being difficult. And what was with the emphasis on the ‘an honor’ part? Don’t think I missed that. Are you suggesting it’s not an honor to set up a room for your king?”

“I would never dare.”

“Uh huh.”

Kei decided to drop the act now. He’d had his fun but the king came here for a reason.

“Your majesty…” he started, serious now.

“I really wish you’d just call me by my name. And stop with the kneeling every time I enter a room too…” Daichi grumbled.

“… _Your majesty, King Daichi the Third_. I won’t lie to you, it’s not a nice sight. He’s stable and should be waking soon, but his wounds are nothing to sneeze at.”

Daichi rolled his eyes at Kei’s stubbornness, but decided not to comment. Instead he nodded.

“Tanaka and Nishinoya told me all about the report and you covered a good deal in your letter to me. I really appreciate you fishing that idiot out of the water, Tsukishima. Especially since, well, the ocean…”

“Of course,” Kei replied briskly.

He didn’t mention that he didn’t actually fish the prince out. Someone, some _thing_ , swam him to shore and placed him there. Kei had been too much a coward to go into the ocean in the end. But explaining that would bring up the inevitable question of who (what) did bring Prince Kuroo Testsurou to shore and Kei has been trying to not think about that.

Besides, he’d sound nuts trying to explain to the king that a sea monster with a human face and a tail had dragged his friend to safety. Given his track record with the ocean, they’d most likely just sit him down for an intervention.

“May I see him?” the king asked.

“You needn’t even ask, your majesty. This way.”

Kei led his king upstairs into his largest guest room. There, on the bed, laid Kei’s royal visitor right where he’d left him.

Except, he was sitting up.

Or, well, propping himself up weakly with his arms. And looking equal parts horrified and confused.

“I-it hurts…” the prince groaned.

“Kuroo!” Daichi called out, rushing to his friend’s side, “Calm down and lay back. There was an accident on your ship. You’re in one of my advisor’s homes, he found you. You’re safe.”

The prince still looked confused and a little panicked, but he seemed to recognize his friend and relaxed a little. The king was able to get the prince to relax and helped him up into a proper sitting position.

Kei quickly rummaged the cabinet and pulled out some medicine the doctor had left. He rolled out a few pellets and brought them to the prince’s bedside, snagging the glass of water on the bed stand along the way.

“Your highness, my name is Tsukishima Kei. I found you and brought you here. The doctor who attended you left you this for the pain. Would you like them?”

The prince swallowed and nodded weakly.

With permission, Kei brought the pellets to Prince Kuroo’s mouth and slipped them in. Then, he held the glass of water to his lips too.

“Slowly Kuroo,” Daichi instructed, holding the prince’s hand with his left hand and keeping his right on the other man’s back just in case, “Drink it slowly.”

Kei didn’t know if the prince really listened or if he just didn’t have the energy to take giant gulps of anything, but he did indeed finish the glass of water slowly.

When the glass was empty, Kei set it on the nightstand and pulled up two stool for the king and himself.

“Y-you,” Prince Kuroo rasped once Kei had settled down.

“Me, your highness?” Kei asked.

The prince swallowed twice, trying to get rid of the dryness in his throat Kei assumed.

“Please don’t push yourself, your highness. I will be here when you next wake.”

The prince shook his head, apparently resolved to get whatever it was he wanted to say off his chest.

“Take your time, Kuroo,” Daichi murmured.

Prince Kuroo nodded back and swallowed a few more times. Then, finally, he began to speak in a shaky rasp.

“Hey there… gorgeous... I must've... died... and gone to heaven…because... I'm looking at... an angel....”

“… ** _huh_**?”

Daichi just groaned.

 

* * *

 

_“Oh, Kei,” his mother said, tears rolling down her face, “It’s your brother…”_

_“What about Akiteru?” eleven-year-old Kei asked, worried now._

_“He’s…”_

_Kei waited with bated breath._

_“He’s finally gotten that promotion! He’s navy captain now! And he’s bringing home a girl! Oh, Kei, isn’t this wonderful?”_

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha. gotcha.


End file.
